 | March 30, 2010 |
Kill the Competition: Nuclear site ... Monopoly ends ... Rio sacksTop storiesThe Times: The UK’s next nuclear power station will be built on Anglesey, North Wales, by Horizon Nuclear Power, a joint venture owned by E.ON and RWE. http://tinyurl.com/yetpcz4 Wall Street Journal: Apple plans to produce a new iPhone, allowing Verizon and other US phone carriers to sell the gadget, ending the monopoly of AT&T. http://tinyurl.com/y94ahjb The Times: Rio Tinto sacked four executives shortly after a Chinese court sentenced them to jail terms for commercial espionage and taking bribes. http://tinyurl.com/yeagrr8 Comment David Wighton in the times: The trial of Rio Tinto executives is a reminder that doing business in China remains, at best, unpredictable. http://tinyurl.com/y9uwdg2 David Prosser in The Independent: Pay freezes have been a feature of the workplace for two years now without any major increase in strike action. http://tinyurl.com/yf5dfca Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times: The euro looks less like an indissoluble union, and more and more like an unhappy marriage between incompatible partners. http://tinyurl.com/yeks4t7 Upside The Times: The US Government plans to sell its stake in Citigroup, the US bank, this year and may make an $8.2 billion (£5.5 billion) profit. http://tinyurl.com/yzc4gpr New York Times: Greece raised €5 billion (£4.5 billion, $6.7 billion) in a bond sale to refinance its debt. http://tinyurl.com/yl9na9u The Daily Telegraph: The government will ask retail banks to pay a levy to help the Post Office enter the banking business and compete with them. http://tinyurl.com/yhlyrt7 Downside The Times: Shares in Antisoma, once a UK biotech sector star, fell 75 per cent after the failure in trials of a much-vaunted cancer drug. http://tinyurl.com/y9ea9ry The Independent: Desire Petroleum’s shares halved as the oil explorer’s North Falkland well came up short of expectations for oil. http://tinyurl.com/yho9zr7 The Times: Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, proposed strict new rules to replace a failed voluntary code signed by more than 100 internet companies. http://tinyurl.com/y8okh9o Mergers and shakers The Times: BAE Systems announced the surprise departure of Sir Dick Evans, the defence group’s former chairman and chief executive. http://tinyurl.com/yethkpt New York Times: Rothschild named Nigel Higgins as chief executive, the first time someone outside the family has run the bank. http://tinyurl.com/yf85ke8 The Times: The Republic of Ireland is on the brink of raising its stakes in both remaining private sector banks, Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland. http://tinyurl.com/y8lopow Around Asia The Times: L’Occitane, a French cosmetics company, spurned the Paris bourse for its initial public offering and instead will list its shares in Hong Kong. http://tinyurl.com/yfsjtwb Wall Street Journal: BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, reached agreements with customers to sell its iron ore at market prices instead of under short term contracts. http://tinyurl.com/ycj6zhu Bloomberg: Vietnam’s economic growth quickened to 5.8 per cent in the first quarter from the same period last year. http://tinyurl.com/y9uuja4 Look ahead Wall Street Journal: Boeing insists it will still deliver the first new 787 Dreamliner planes by the end of the year despite delays in flight-tests. http://tinyurl.com/yl2ad7h The Daily Telegraph: Demand for gold from China will double within the next decade, a report from the World Gold Council said. http://tinyurl.com/yfle4fy Wall Street Journal: General Electric, the multinational conglomerate, aims to double the revenue of its oil-services business in the next four years. http://tinyurl.com/y9l2bj8 MARKETS FTSE 100 5,710.66 up 0.1% (Monday close) Dow 10,895.86 up 0.4% (close) S&P 500 1,173.22 up 0.6% (close) Nasdaq 2,404.36 up 0.4% (close) Nikkei 11,038.08 up 0.5% (latest) Hang Seng 21,283.56 up 0.2% (latest) Currencies Sterling $1.4992/1.1121 euros (latest) Euro $1.3481 (latest) Commodities Brent crude $81.20 up 3 cents (latest) West Texas crude $82.15 down 2 cents (latest) Gold $1109.90 down $1.60 (latest) New York Reuters: US stocks rose as miners and energy companies advanced on dollar weakness and investors bought recent high fliers as the quarter's end approached. Energy giant Exxon Mobil rose 1.1 per cent on higher oil prices. The Dow's top boosts were plane maker Boeing which rose 2.1 per cent and heavy equipment maker Caterpillar which rose 1.7 per cent. After the bell on the Nasdaq, iPad maker Apple rose more than 1 per cent and Verizon Communications rose almost 4 per cent on reports Verizon may sell a new type of iPhone. Banking giant Citigroup fell 3.3 per cent after the US Treasury announced a plan to sell its 7.7 billion shares in the bank. Trading volume was light on the New York Stock Exchange. http://tinyurl.com/y9bx882 Asia Bloomberg: Asian stocks rose in morning trade after US consumer spending increased and European confidence in the economic outlook improved. Canon, the world’s largest camera maker, rose 1.7 per cent and Sony, the games console maker, rose 1.3 per cent in Tokyo. Samsung Electronics, Asia’s biggest maker of flat screens and mobile phones, rose 0.5 per cent in Seoul. Konica Minolta, the Japanese maker of printers and scanners, rose 3.1 per cent on an analyst’s upgrade. Mitsubishi, Japan’s largest commodities trader, rose 3.2 per cent and BHP Billiton, the world’s No. 1 miner, rose 1.4 per cent on higher metal prices. Inpex, Japan’s biggest oil producer, rose 0.9 per cent and Woodside Petroleum, Australia’s second-biggest oil producer, rose 0.6 per cent on higher oil prices. Kobe Steel, a Japanese steelmaker, rose 3.1 per cent after narrowing its full-year loss forecast. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 per cent to 125.83 in morning trade. http://tinyurl.com/ybpfv9b Michael Beh: michaelwbeh@gmail.com London The FTSE 100 remained about the 5,700 level, rising 7.64 points to 5,710.66, after big gains for Vodafone and the mining sector. Vodafone was up 3 per cent on reports it was talking to Verizon Communications, it American joint-venture partner, about a receiving its first dividend payment since 2005 or even about a full merger of the parent companies. Miners dominated the leader board after commodity prices pushed higher. Xstrata, the Swiss-based resources giant, which exports more coal for power stations than any other company, added 3.2 per cent, amid reports that it is holding out for $100 a tonne or more in price talks with Japanese utilities. In the FTSE 250, ITV was up 3.2 per cent after Ofcom suggested the broadcaster could be allowed to limit the number of adverts its shows, which could boost advertising prices. Peter Stiff: Peter.Stiff@the-times.co.uk |
